Hold on
by shaison
Summary: Tumblr prompt that will turn into a multichapter: In 2x13 instead of kane/abby injured/trapped under the rubble after the missile hits the village, its clarke and lexa trapped and lexa is injured.
1. Chapter 1

Hold On

_Chapter One_

Clarke was too late. By the time she got the Commander alone to tell her about the bombing they overheard while listening in on a conversation via Bellamy's radio, it had already happened. They heard the explosion and felt the earth break apart, the building they inhabited crashed down on top of them and suddenly everything was black.

Clarke came to slowly, the cries from above them muffled and distorted. She coughed as she breathed in the dirt the fell unceremoniously onto her face, choking on the hot air that smelled of blood and sweat. She slowly gathered her bearing, trying to figure out what had happened. Then it hit her, the missile. She remembered riding to Ton DC as fast as she could, heart heavy and filled with apprehension. She had to warn the clans and her people, but by the time Lexa had told her the only thing they could do was run and save themselves, the missile had struck.

Lexa. Where was she? Clarke tried to move but she was pinned down by a slab of concrete. Luckily she was wedged in between a large portion of rubble, which supported most of the weight of the concrete, keeping it from crushing her underneath it. Looking around, she spotted The Commander, whose fate was not as fortunate. Was she breathing? Yes, Clarke could barely make out the tiny rise and fall of her chest.

Lexa was pinned down under a pillar, trapping her right leg, and she had a nasty gash on her forehead. "Commander," Clarke whispered, receiving no response. "Commander," she said with more volume, again receiving no indication that she had been heard. Worry blossomed in the pit of her stomach and she tried moving the concrete off of her, but to no avail. Squashing the panic that threated to overtake her, she breathed in deeply, forcing herself to calm down.

Slowly, she pulled left her arm out, clenching her jaw against the pain of her raw skin scraping against the rock. Once it was free, she used her hand to help situate herself into a more upright position, pushing against the slab to free her other arm once she had slid back enough. Sitting upright, she was able to carefully climb over the massive rock and make her way over to The Commander.

Lexa was still unconscious but she was breathing, albeit they were shallow breaths. "Lexa," Clarke breathed into her ear, unconsciously putting her hand to brunettes' cheek. "Wake up Commander, open your eyes." The Commander stirred ever so slightly, turning her head into the hand that was caressing her cheek. Clarke continued to coax her back into reality, smiling when The Commander opened her eyes, but quickly frowned when she heard the groan of pain come from the girl lying next to her.

"Clarke," Lexa said, but it came out more of a croak. Her green eyes took in their surroundings, stopping once they reached Clarke's gaze, seeming to relax. "You're safe." she breathed, before closing her eyes. Clarke could only ponder those words for a second before she realized what was happening. "Lexa! No, you have to stay awake, stay with me!" she said, gently shaking the girls shoulder. Lexa strained to open her eyes, exhaustion clear on her face. "I need to remove this pillar from your leg, but it's heavy and I need your help." Clarke doubted the girl could offer much help, but she needed to keep her awake.

Lexa nodded her understanding, and Clarke slowly moved down to her legs, positioning her hand underneath the pillar, watching as Lexa propped herself up and did the same. Surprisingly, they were able to lift it long enough for Lexa to free her leg and scoot to sit back against the wall. Her leg was fine, but she had a long gash along her side that Clarke had missed and needed to be wrapped immediately, Lexa had already lost a lot of blood. Moving up, she took off her sweater and ripped it before straddling the commander, putting her knees on either side of the brunette. She grimaced her apology, but there was not enough space to properly address the wound and respect personal space at the same time.

Lexa's eyes never left Clarke's face as she put her arms around her to wrap the makeshift bandage around her torso. When Clarke was satisfied, she looked up and was caught in Lexa's gaze, piercing green eyes looking at her with an almost uncomfortable intensity. When Clarke finally looked away she realized their compromising position and quickly but carefully removed herself from Lexa's lap, essentially, and sat next her, resting her back on the wall behind her.

"We must get out of this hole, Clarke," Lexa said, after some time had passed. She moved to get up but Clarke moved to keep her where she was. "Absolutely not, I'm not letting you even think about digging us out of here. Not only could we make this whole thing collapse on top of us, you're in no physical condition for such a strenuous activity."

Lexa narrowed her eyes at this, "I do not take commands and I will not die here."

"One of those statements is true, we will not die here. Actually you might bleed out and die if you don't stay exactly where you are, but here you get to listen to me. There is no one here for you to command, but I do have a job as a healer, so in this hole, I'm in charge."

Lexa widened her eyes in surprise at the steel tone in the voice of the sky princess, but complied nonetheless. "We will be found down here, they're probably looking for survivors as we speak. All we can do is wait." Clarke said, looking above them.

They had no idea what was happening above them, had no idea how many people had survived. The feeling of helplessness was not one Lexa was partial to, but Clarke was right. All she could do was hope to be found down here, her people knew that their Commander and the Sky Princess had entered this building together; she only hoped they didn't assume they were dead. She supposed it didn't matter if they did, they'd have to dig through to claim their bodies anyway. If they thought her dead, they knew where her body was and it was their duty to give it proper burial rites.


	2. Chapter 2

Hold On

_Chapter Two_

Lexa needed to stay awake, and with limited options, the only thing Clarke could think to do was talk, but she hadn't held many personal conversations that weren't war related with The Commander and was unsure of how to go about it. Before she could broach a subject, Lexa spoke up.

"Mt. Weather will be severely disappointed to learn that the leader of the Skaikru and myself seem to have survived their attempt to eliminate us."

Clarke couldn't help but crack a smile and let out a small laugh, turning her head to look at the girl beside her. At the sound Lexa allowed a small smile to grace her lips, a site Clarke had seen once before, but because of circumstances, couldn't fully appreciate it. Now, with nothing but Lexa to focus on, she was able to see how the action softened her features. The brunettes' green eyes warmed as she caught the blue stare directed at her.

"You know, it's nice to see you like this." Clarke stated. Lexa frowned in confusion, not understanding why her pain would delight the blonde. "No! Not hurt, I meant relaxed. Your Commander mask is slipping, and before you go and put it back on, I think it's nice to see this side of you." she said with a hopeful glance at the injured girl.

Lexa raised her eyebrows at this, she wasn't aware she had let Clarke anywhere near her walls, let alone inside of them. She briefly considered shutting her out completely until she remembered the look on the blonde's face as she told her, and her alone, about the missile. She could have easily ran into the town and yelled to everyone about the incoming missile, but she kept silent and divulged the secret to her.

She trusted Clarke, she realized with a bit of shock. She trusted very few, and those she did trust, she had made the conscious decision to let them in, to an extent. But not with Clarke, she hadn't even realized she trusted the blonde until this very moment. Maybe it was the hot air getting to her head, or perhaps the possible concussion, but she decided to not fight it in this moment.

She turned to the blonde, "Being the Commander requires this 'mask,' as you call it."

"I know, but it's good to know that there's more to you." She paused for a brief second before continuing, "Sometimes I'm afraid leading my people will break me. If saving them cause me to lose myself in the process." She gave Lexa a small smile "If you're still able to retain who you were before you were chosen, perhaps there is hope for me after all."

"It easy to lose yourself Clarke, but staying strong is not only for your people. You must put your people above all else, this is true, but to do that you must also take care of yourself. What use are you to those you lead if you are broken? Do not let go of all the things that make you happy. You don't have to sacrifice everything in order to be a good leader."

"Sounds like your speaking from experience, what did you keep just for yourself?"

Lexa looked away, debating whether to answer before slowly letting out a breath. She spoke without looking at the blonde, leaning her head back and gazing upwards. "When I was a child, my father and I would go out to the forest and watch the birds in the sky. I was always fascinated with the thought of traveling through the sky, as they did. In times of peace, there are days that I can take to myself. Sometimes I wander into the forest and watch them by myself, it's a way to remember and honor my father."

She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder, finding Clarke looking at her with understanding in her eyes. "I learned how to draw from my father. Since landing on Earth, I haven't drawn anything. There hasn't been time. Perhaps when this is over, I'll take a day to myself and draw the Earth. Growing up I drew what I imagined the ground to look like quite frequently. Although all I had to base them off were old pictures in books, which were dusty and faded."

"Did the reality match your expectation?" the brunette asked curiously.

"Not quite," Clarke grimaced, "It's a hell of a lot more dangerous, for one thing. But the colors are more vibrant, it smells amazing, everything tastes better than I ever could have imagined. Living in a giant metal box in space, everything gets a bit repetitive and dull. I'm constantly amazed by the ground. I thought I'd be homesick, but I'm not. The sense of freedom that comes with being here is best thing I've ever experienced."

Lexa tried to imagine life in space, and she had to agree with Clarke. It didn't seem like any way to live. The more she thought of it, the more she realized she was glad the blonde had made it to the Earth she had dreamt of. She smiled at the thought before freezing completely, a small panic stirring in the pit of her stomach.

"_Shit_," she thought, "_there is absolutely no reason for me to be happy about that._" The Commander was not one to ignore her feelings, but that did not mean she didn't try to find a plausible explanation for her reaction. But the more she thought about it, the harder it became to think of any other logical reason. And while she wasn't going to lie to herself, she was sure as hell going to ignore this feeling in her chest. She'd treat it as a fire, and Clarke as the oxygen. Take away the oxygen and the fire would dissipate. The only problem was being stuck in a hole in the ground with Clarke as her current healer and no way to put space between them. Not to mention she was still leader of the Skaikru, and abruptly stopping the conversation for seemingly no reason was more than disrespectful. She'd have to tread these waters very carefully.

Clarke, noticing the silence stretching longer, looked at the brunette sitting beside her. "You ok, Commander?"

Lexa took a moment before answering, "It's nothing, just a small headache."

She now had Clarke's full attention. She got up onto her knees and faced her entire body to the Commander, using her hands to turn The Commander's head to her, examining the gash on her forehead before looking her directly in the eye.

"_Well that backfired completely._" she thought as she looked back into the worried blue eyes.


End file.
